Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Millions In Health Coverage ‘Gap’ Won’t Be Penalized

Many low-income, working adults who fall into the so-called coverage gap — meaning they are ineligible for either federal subsidies or Medicaid — may qualify for an exemption to the health law's penalty for not having insurance. Media outlets also look at how the health law is complicating tax season, why an Iowa co-op failed and how state Republican lawmakers have been more successful at undermining the law than their federal counterparts.

The Associated Press:
Millions In Health Coverage Gap Seek To Avoid Tax Penalty
With Sunday's deadline to enroll through the exchange looming, [Stephanie] Daugherty met with an exchange adviser, or navigator, at her Fort Worth community college to see if she might qualify for federal subsidies. She doesn't, but she also learned she may not have had to pay the penalty, after all. Daugherty and millions of other low-income, working adults who fall into a so-called coverage gap — ineligible for either federal subsidies or Medicaid — may qualify for an exemption to the penalty. In Texas and nearly two dozen other conservative states that chose not to expand their Medicaid coverage under the federal health care overhaul, nonprofit groups and volunteer tax advisers are trying to help people avoid the penalty for not having insurance. (Schmall, 2/14)

The New York Times:
Tips For Navigating A Changing Tax Landscape
What’s new this tax season? In a word: Obamacare. That’s the answer given by many tax professionals. People who overcame the challenges of Healthcare.gov and succeeded in buying health insurance under the Affordable Care Act last year now face a new set of hurdles in the form of daunting tax forms. So do business owners who offer coverage to employees under the law’s Small Business Health Options Program. But the good news for both is that they may receive a tax credit that reduces taxes dollar for dollar. (Rosen, 2/14)

The New York Times:
Health Care Success For Midwest Co-Op Proves Its Undoing
CoOportunity Health was one of 23 nonprofit cooperatives created under the Affordable Care Act to generate more competition and choice in insurance markets dominated by huge for-profit companies. Many of these newcomers to the industry, seeded with hundreds of millions of dollars in federal loans, struggled to attract customers after the law’s online insurance exchanges opened in 2013. But CoOportunity had seemed to flourish, with over 120,000 customers in Iowa and Nebraska — far more than the 15,000 it had anticipated — by the end of last year. Its success apparently helped doom it. CoOportunity’s many customers needed more medical care than expected, according to Nick Gerhart, Iowa’s insurance commissioner, and it had priced its plans too low. (Goodnough, 2/16)

Los Angeles Times:
Republican Lawmakers Hold The Line Against Obamacare At State Level
As President Obama fights in Congress and the courts to preserve the nation's sweeping healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act faces still another threat to its viability: Republicans in statehouses, many bucking governors of their own party eager to accept its flow of federal dollars. [The state lawmakers] have proved far more effective at thwarting the 2010 healthcare law than their Republican counterparts in Washington, who have voted more than 50 times to repeal all or part of the program many call Obamacare, largely to no avail. (Barabak and Levey, 2/16)

The Hill:
Sanders Puts Brave Face On Single-Payer Troubles
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) says that single-payer healthcare did not fail in Vermont and could be revived, amid speculation that flailing efforts in that regard could hurt his 2016 presidential hopes. Sanders, a self-described socialist, has been a champion of nationwide government-provided health insurance for everyone, known as single-payer healthcare. (Sullivan, 1/16)

This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.

Thank you for your interest in supporting Kaiser Health News (KHN), the nation’s leading nonprofit newsroom focused on health and health policy. We distribute our journalism for free and without advertising through media partners of all sizes and in communities large and small. We appreciate all forms of engagement from our readers and listeners, and welcome your support.

KHN is an editorially independent program of KFF (formally, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation). You can support KHN by making a contribution to KFF, a non-profit charitable organization that is not associated with Kaiser Permanente.

Click the button below to go to KFF’s donation page which will provide more information and FAQs. Thank you!